Claimed Pretti was an “assassin” looking to “murder federal agents,” “inflict harm,” or “do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement” (Miller, Bovino, Noem). None of this is true based on the evidence we have now, and the administration has presented no proof of this motive, except that he had a firearm and ammunition on his body.

Officials clearly understood that the fatal shooting of a demonstrator posed one of the gravest political threats to President Trump since his inauguration.